ANALYSIS-US faces dilemma with Pakistan aid, security

By Paul Eckert, Asia Correspondent

WASHINGTON, Nov 6 (Reuters) - The United States faces a dilemma trying to find a way to press Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf to reverse emergency rule without undermining his army's critical fight against Islamic militants.

The State Department said on Tuesday that after Mushurraf's broad crackdown on opposition, it was committed to a thorough review of U.S. aid to Pakistan, which has reached nearly $10 billion since the Sept. 11 attacks.

Senior lawmakers who head congressional committees that control the U.S. foreign aid budget are condemning the Bush administration for coddling Musharraf and demanding tougher steps against the military officer who has run the nuclear-armed country since a 1999 coup.

"The United States will continue its support to the Pakistani people," said Vermont Sen. Patrick Leahy, the Democratic chairman of the Senate subcommittee that oversees funding for U.S. assistance to Pakistan.

"But U.S. aid to the Musharraf government should stop until constitutional order, civil liberties and judicial independence are restored, until political prisoners are released, and until free and fair elections are allowed," he said.

Leahy was echoed in the House of Representatives by his counterpart New York Democrat Rep. Nita Lowey, who heads the appropriations subcommittee on state and foreign operations.

"In light of President Musharraf's disturbing actions, Congress and the Department of State should review all relevant economic and military aid from which Pakistan currently benefits in order to ensure that taxpayers' money is advancing American interests in the region," she said.

U.S. legislators will have a fresh chance to vent and grill Bush administration officials on Wednesday, when Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte testifies to the House Foreign Affairs Committee.